Parliamentary elections were held in the Czech Republic on 31 May and 1 June 1996,Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p471 the first after independence. The Civic Democratic Party remained the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies, winning 68 of the 200 seats. Voter turnout was 76%.Nohlen & Stöver, p472
Campaign The campaign was primarily a conflict between the right-wing ODS and left-wing ČSSD. The ODS used slogans "Freedom and Prosperity" and "We proved that we can." ČSSD used slogan "Humanity against selfishness." ČSSD used an autobus called "Zemák" during its campaign. Party's leader Miloš Zeman campaigned with it at multiple places over the Czech Republic. ODS on the other hand used endorsements of public celebrities such as Lucie Bílá. Both parties used meetings with voters as their campaign instrument.
Finances PartyMoney spent (Kč)Civic Democratic Party127,000,000 Czech Social Democratic Party80,000,000Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party55,000,000Civic Democratic Alliance40,000,000Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia8,000,000Source: České Noviny
Opinion polls
Date Polling firm ODS ČSSD KSČM ODA DŽJ DEU LB Others 29.6 26.4 10.3 8.1 8.0 6.4 3.1 2.8 2.1 1.4 1.8 May 1996 STEM 24.0 19.3 10.3 8.7 7.1 9.1 n/a n/a n/a n/a 4–7 May 1996 IVVM 21.8 17.7 7.3 7.1 5.8 5.8 2.8 2.3 1.9 3.3 April IVVM 25.5 15.5 6.2 8.9 5.0 6.8 1.9 1.4 1.9 4.5 March IVVM 25.5 15.3 6.0 6.7 4.7 8.1 1.2 1.7 1.9 4.2 February IVVM 24.7 15.9 6.5 9.1 4.4 8.1 0.9 1.2 3.2 3.8 January IVVM 27.2 17.3 7.1 6.7 4.7 6.6 0.7 0.8 2.0 4.7
Results
Vote share by district
References